Linux does tend to use all resources efficiently not just memory the main issue with Windows memory usage is that memory that has been released by a process is not always returned to available free memory so memory scrubbing apps running all the time have been the norm.Win7 is much better than previous versions but still not as efficient as the Linux kernel

The command 'top' is your friend here. It will show you how the system resources are being used including how much memory is currently free, and how much load is on the processors (and which programs are using them). If you've got plenty of memory free under normal usage, then adding a bit more won't make any difference.

Maybe, but free is more informative than either as it differentiates between memory used by applications and that used by buffers and caches. It is the latter that improves performance on Linux, whereas filling up all your RAM with the former kills performance.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." (Albert Einstein)